Collection PL

Australia 1877 — City of Melbourne Bank Limited £20 Specimen (Pick Unlisted) Unique

A unique surviving specimen of the £20 denomination issued by the City of Melbourne Bank Limited, representing one of the highest-value private banknotes produced in colonial Victoria. Printed from Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. master plates, this note belongs to the final generation of Australian private banknote engraving before national standardization and the destruction of nearly all high-denomination material. ... Read more →

Australia 1905–1910 — Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED £5 Specimen Proof (Pick Unlisted)

Proof specimen printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. between 1905 and 1910 for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney LIMITED — one of Australia’s oldest and most respected private banks, founded in 1834. The CBC operated independently until its 1981 merger with the National Bank of Australasia, forming today’s NAB. ... Read more →

Australia ND (1880–1889) — Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited £5 SPECIMEN with Serial Prefix (Pick Unlisted, MVR4a)

A printer-issued £5 SPECIMEN prepared by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, dating to the late 1880s production window (ND 1880–1889), and bearing live serial numbers rather than zero or placeholder prefixes. This piece represents an internal control or approval specimen drawn from a numbered production sequence, distinct from margin-heavy proof impressions or display specimens. ... Read more →

Mauritius 1839 — Mauritius Commercial Bank 20 Dollars / 4 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled Note (Pick S125)

One of the earliest surviving issued notes of the Mauritius Commercial Bank—the oldest banking institution in the Indian Ocean—this 1839 Twenty Dollar / Four Pounds Sterling note is a foundational artifact of Mauritian monetary history. Issued only one year after the bank’s founding in 1838, it belongs to the first generation of fully functional colonial paper money used on the island. These early issues circulated at a time when coin shortages were severe, and private banknotes became the primary medium of exchange for merchants, plantation owners, and shipping houses. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1870–1890 — Bank of New Zealand £1 Green Specimen (Pick S191s)

The first Bank of New Zealand specimen and the foundation of the country’s pre-Reserve Bank note lineage. Engraved and printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co., London, this £1 Green (Pick S191s) established the visual architecture reused throughout all later BNZ issues: paired Māori figures at left, an engraved coastal vignette below, and an ornate BNZ duty-tint panel framing the ONE POUND denomination. This design became the anchor for the entire color series that defined New Zealand’s early commercial-bank currency. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1895–1915 — Bank of New Zealand £5 Orange Specimen (Pick S192s)

The high-denomination anchor of the BNZ color series, this £5 Orange (Pick S192s) marked the transition from ornate Victorian engraving to the more rigid Edwardian geometric standards that followed. Printed by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. in London, it carries a deep orange duty tint and preserves the core elements introduced in the 1870 £1 Green: paired Māori figures at left, a maritime vignette below, and an intricate guilloche framework surrounding the denomination. ... Read more →

Mexico 1884 – Fábrica de Tunal 1 Peso (Pick Unlisted, ABNC)

One of the most sophisticated corporate issues produced in northern Mexico during the Porfiriato modernization period, this fully issued and serialed 1 Peso note from La Fábrica de Tunal represents a hybrid monetary instrument that straddled formal banknote design and private scrip functionality. Unlike the majority of locally lithographed corporate payroll chits of the 1880s, this piece was engraved and printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York—an extremely rare choice for a non-bank issuer and clear evidence of the company's scale and financial ambition. La Fábrica de Tunal operated in the rural industrial zone outside Durango city along the Tunal River, referenced repeatedly in contemporary mining, agricultural, and provincial reports. ... Read more →

Mauritius 1842 — Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Issued & Cancelled (Pick S122a)

A fully issued, hand-signed, and dated Mauritius Commercial Bank note — one of the earliest known examples of circulating paper money from the island. Dated 2 August 1842, this note bears manuscript signatures, serial numbers, and the characteristic oval CANCELLED stamps applied upon redemption. The engraving by Myers Frs. ... Read more →

Mauritius 1843 — Mauritius Commercial Bank 10 Dollars / 2 Pounds Sterling Remainder (Pick S122r)

Unissued remainder from the earliest Mauritius Commercial Bank dual-currency series, printed by Myers Frs. & Co., London. This note represents the archival stock of the 1840s issue — printed but never signed or circulated. ... Read more →

Argentina 1883 — Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires 2 Pesos Oro Proof (Pick S536fp)

Superb proof engraving prepared by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, dated 19 de Enero de 1883. The design features an equestrian vignette at center symbolizing progress and vitality, flanked by portraits of Florencio Varela and Valentín Alsina, two influential figures in Argentina’s political and intellectual life. Printed directly from ABNC master plates in black ink on thin India paper and mounted on card stock, this piece confirms its pre-issue proof status. ... Read more →

New Zealand 1924–1925 — Bank of New Zealand 10 Shillings Front Proof with SPECIMEN Perforation (Pick S231p1)

Front proof of the Bank of New Zealand 10 Shillings (Pick S231p1), printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co., London, for the post-war re-engraved issue dated 1924–25. Perforated SPECIMEN through the lower margin and certified by PMG as Choice Uncirculated 63 Top Pop, this example shows the completed obverse design prior to overprinting and serial application. The note features a finely engraved portrait of the Māori rangatira Tamati Waka Nene (1780–1871), leader of Ngāpuhi and an early ally of British settlement—one of the first indigenous statesmen ever depicted on a Commonwealth banknote. ... Read more →

Argentina 1867 — Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata 4 Reales Plata Boliviana Proof (Pick S1734p)

Archival proof printed by the American Bank Note Company for the Banco de Londres y Río de la Plata, dated 1 Enero 1867 and assigned to the Rosario branch. This fractional 4 Reales denomination belongs to the transitional pre-peso period when Argentine provincial banks still operated under the 'Moneda Boliviana' standard inherited from regional trade with Bolivia and Peru. The design features a central bull’s head vignette framed by intricate ornamental borders — a unique choice among Argentine banknotes. ... Read more →